The first cardinal flower I ever saw was in nature. It was a magical experience. My husband and I were hiking in the forest preserves and there in the dense woods was an opening of sorts with a ray of sunlight shining down through some tall trees, shining on a single glorious flower. It was as if it were a messenger standing in the woods waiting for us to come along. It was the brightest red I had ever seen...let alone in the deep of the forest.
This is my lone surviving cardinal flower. It surprised me hiding in with the beebalm.
Maybe it was waiting for me to come along.
A messenger of something good..perhaps
in my Open Bar of Joy

Barney the spider was busy this morning.
I first met him looking for a lost whiffel ball from my neighbor's boys.
Now I notice him just about every morning..in the same place..in the Annabelle hydrangeas.
Spiders strike fear in me when I happen upon them...once I walked into a web and had it all over me...at night!
At our old house that had mucho trees and bushes we would see giant webs being built at night when a car would pass by......Hitchcock should have used that scene in one of his movies...primal fear, truly, to see one of those giant webs.
But I am also fascinated by spiders and their gorgeous webs that shine in the sun's light and hold water droplets after a rain or dew in the hot mist of a summer morning.
Actually I am a bug lover. Have been since I was a kid.
They are such a pulsing bit of life in the garden. They are part of the balance and sometime unbalance of the garden. This year some caterpillars have eaten my loosestrife. I think the bug population is down this year, although I have noticed bee and butterfly activity around the Joe Pye weed.
Today it is going to be overcast all day and in the 80s....perfect day for weeding. And boy, do I have the weeding to do.
This wench better get busy....enough blabbing.

Ah the fertile birdhouse
Little Miss was the first to hear them peeping
her eyes widening in curiosity
Oh baby birds..I said to her
Well I might as well of said I'd grant a wish
Please can I see? she pleaded
Of course, but don't touch
But she touched and the hungry mouths opened
and she squealed in delight
...wish granted.

Simple,ordinary marigolds
a gift my grandfather gave to me
the scent of them crushed in my fingers
or just a brief passing
and he is with me
always
such a gift

Ah the heat of late July
and the black eyes
of Susan...she
let's you know if you
haven't enjoyed summer
yet,you best be on to the task
of August joy

Slip and slide my garden

My little grandchildren are coming today from Laguna Beach California.
They love my bugs....the ones that wear shoes and bow ties.
I'm thinking of getting them a slip and slide (their mom says they love it)
but I remember when my kids were little ...how it destroyed the grass...
and my husband had a fit
about grass
Not this time Arthur...
what is life all about
but for living
and making memories
and for making no more regrets.
So what if the grass takes a hit

Morning Light

Sorry I made the pics so big...next time I'll pay attention. But I posted them straight from Picasa and i don't know any other way to post multiple pictures using it.
Anyway I just wanted to share my morning walk looking lookin looking  around the garden. It is pretty dry and the new flowering plants haven't yet so the garden is looking a bit tired besides for the potted annuals. So it was light and bugs and birds that gave me a smile today in the early garden.

A garden is all about corners and nooks. This is one of my rock nooks. Here you will find rocks that I have collected along my journey of life. And a few were given to me by friends who knew what to bring me back from a trip...a rock.
The green ceramic dish I found at TJMAXX in the dead of winter. How nice, I thought back then, will this shallow dish look amongst my rocks...catching water for the bunnies and the stray cat Handsome (whom I have not seen in weeks)
Nooks, little unexpected discovery zones in the garden.

What I like best about my garden is the sense of mystery. It isn't a garden in the garden club tradition, it is a wild and free place of beautiful things growing. Most things I have planted there, but truth be told, it's the things I didn't plant that make my heart swell a bit more, each time I discover them. Now, I do have to control things a bit, or it would be bedlam..but in me beats a gypsy heart...a wandering spirit that looks for adventure in the smallest of places. This rock for instance...this morning I stopped... at the morning light hitting it just so...and I saw it hidden...vinca vine bejewling it in the mostly shady part of the garden under the River Birch.
I love light...morning and late afternoon light in the garden. It touches the plants to wake them up or signal them this day is fleeting fast.
Light and darness......sun and moon...ying and yang.........live and let live.........
yep....that's the kind of garden I have

this was his mug shot
he was soon executed
by drowning
Oh July....

The only good thing about this critter
is....I hope he turns into a butterfly!
I thought of you April....inside joke.

These tiger lillies were volunteers in my front beds. They have spread to make a happy little cluster of orange. It is amazing how easy they are to grow..they drop little black seeds daily. How they got here? I'll blame the birds.

They call you asian tiger lily
warm orange with black spots
a threat to no one
just a name
we gave you

sunday haiku

I didn't bother to plant anything in the mailbox flowerbox..it is too hard to keep it watered all the time, and even if I do, the plants seem to just bake. But low and behold, miracles happen everyday if you only look. Some birdie must have dropped a seed or two bringing about this moment of joy for me. Lovely happy sunflowers.

Who plants sunflowers in a planter box by the street anyway?
someone did...hahahaha!

Sometimes it pays to look up and see

waiting for just a glance

a moment of your time

waiting to hear you sigh

...trees

I wanted a sense of anticipation as you enter the garden,thus the curving flagstone path. This morning I still felt that anticipation as I returned from the front (garbage day..hauling a can) and stayed with it for a fleeting second before I saw the the bare spots on the ground and the mock orange bushes maybe on their last breath. Not supposed to do that....go negative.....look for joy and beauty.. I tried to tell myself as mosquitoes were biting my arms. An imperfect garden...hmmmm..where does that lead my mind? Eve-why couldn't you have just eaten of the right fruit and made it easy on us all.....damn bugs and death